Yesterday the folks behind the popular Japanese character Domo made a really cool announcement. I really like it when the geeky things we enjoy are used to help those in need. Check out the following press release for the 411 on what they're doing, then catch up with me at the bottom of the post for yet another fun contest!: DOMO HELPS MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH PHILANTHROPIC FASHION CAMPAIGN Big Tent Entertainment Gives Back Through Licensing Deal with Good Work(s)

We're No. 1! We're No. 2! We're No. 0! When it comes to how LGBT-friendly Chicago is, the results are in -- and they vary across the board. Outtraveler.com , an LGBT travel site, named Boystown the world's best gay neighborhood this year thanks to its welcoming attitude and Northhalsted Market Days, "an unrivaled August street party. " This title comes on the heels of out.com , an LGBTQ lifestyles site, placing seven North Side bars in its top 200 greatest gay bars in the world.

Ever had a few beers and actually felt a little sharper? That wouldn't surprise UIC Psychology professor Jennifer Wiley. In a study published online last month in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, Wiley shared the results of an experiment she led that included getting participants drunk on vodka cranberries and spotting the differences between two photographs. What she found was that the sober participants were much slower at spotting the differences between the photos than the group that reached about a .07 blood alcohol level.

There's nothing creepier than plunging into deep, murky waters and bumping into something mysterious. Yes, the 20 swimmers attempting to swim across Lake Michigan on Friday will have to muster up some courage. But David McClellan knows that won't be a problem. Swim Across America, a national nonprofit focused on raising money for cancer research, is launching its first Swim Across Lake Michigan fundraising event. “These people want to make a difference,” said McClellan, SAA's Chicago event co-chair.

There's nothing creepier than plunging into deep, murky waters and bumping into something mysterious. Yes, the 20 swimmers attempting to swim across Lake Michigan on Friday will have to muster up some courage. But David McClellan knows that won't be a problem. Swim Across America, a national nonprofit focused on raising money for cancer research, is launching its first Swim Across Lake Michigan fundraising event. “These people want to make a difference,” said McClellan, SAA's Chicago event co-chair.

* (out of four) When the body mass index (BMI) attaches the “overweight” tag to LeBron James--who's made up of approximately 1 billion percent muscle - clearly the form of measurement has a bug in its system. Documentarian Darryl Roberts, who began his career in Chicago radio, is right about that. With “The Thin Commandments,” his follow-up to the 2008 doc “America the Beautiful” that told us what we already knew about our country's fixation on...

We're No. 1! We're No. 2! We're No. 0! When it comes to how LGBT-friendly Chicago is, the results are in -- and they vary across the board. Outtraveler.com , an LGBT travel site, named Boystown the world's best gay neighborhood this year thanks to its welcoming attitude and Northhalsted Market Days, "an unrivaled August street party. " This title comes on the heels of out.com , an LGBTQ lifestyles site, placing seven North Side bars in its top 200 greatest gay bars in the world.

My Twitter feed exploded with all sorts of nerdiness last night. Tweet after tweet cascaded down my screen, each containing names, numbers and postulations; and every once in a while I'd see a little argument sprout up between Twitter avatars, with one challenging the hypothesis of the other. And what was the cause of all this chatter? Was it the discovery of a new planet in our solar system? Or that dark matter was in fact, the cream filling of a Hostess Twinkie ? (Mmmmmmmmmm…Twinkies.)

This week: As year-end top 10 lists emerge, you discover that you don't like your significant other's musical taste. The question: Is that a deal-breaker? Yes Taste matters. Books, movies, music, where to go for dinner - if you can't get along the majority of the time, it's going to be rough going. If they love top 40 and your musical taste is guided solely by blogs, good luck on sharing the finer things in life. And by finer things I mean Friday road-trip playlists, Monday morning playlists, Sunday cuddling...

**1/2 (out of four) French workplaces must really be hotbeds of free-flowing romantic opportunity. After Nathalie (Audrey “Amelie” Tautou) says it was inappropriate for her to kiss her colleague Markus (Francois Damiens), he says she sounds like an American. Meanwhile, Nathalie's married boss (Bruno Todeschini) continues to express his interest and lament Nathalie seeing anyone else. Get to work, you lonely lovebirds! Anyway, “Delicacy” actually does not revolve around a love triangle but a woman trying to put herself back together, as...

Did you think guesting on a Limp Bizkit song was the biggest thing Lil Wayne would do this week? Hah! Weezy dropped "I Am Not A Human Being II" on Tuesday, his second release in six months. We carefully weeded through the lyrics on "I Am Not a Human Being II" (seriously, so few of them are printable in a family publication), to give you this challenge: Lil Wayne lyric or Craigslist personal ad excerpt. The results may have some of these dudes searching for a record deal. damoran@tribune.com | @redeyedana 1 -- "I've had to put them across my lap. I've had to bail them out a few times...

Ever had a few beers and actually felt a little sharper? That wouldn't surprise UIC Psychology professor Jennifer Wiley. In a study published online last month in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, Wiley shared the results of an experiment she led that included getting participants drunk on vodka cranberries and spotting the differences between two photographs. What she found was that the sober participants were much slower at spotting the differences between the photos than the group that reached about a .07 blood alcohol level.

*1/2 (out of four) As they say, it ain't over until the mother of the incinerated demon baby sings. Actually, 17-year-old Nell (Ashley Bell) barely remembers the events of 2010's hit “The Last Exorcism,” the surprisingly creepy thriller in which the professor from “Saved by the Bell: The College Years” played a priest aiming to expose exorcisms as hooey. He obviously learned his lesson, but in “The Last Exorcism Part II” - whose self-parodying title recalls nonsense like “Final Destination 5” - Nell...

The intersection of Clark and Ontario downtown already has a lot going on, with Portillo's, Rainforest Cafe and the Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's adorning its corner. As of Wednesday, it has a head-turning new billboard as well. McDonald's and pictures of its hot, steamy fries previously occupied the billboard on the northwest corner. Now the board, the first of its kind, features an ad for the dating site ArrangementFinders.com with a picture of former Charlie Sheen "Goddess" Bree Olsen and the tagline "Because the best job is a b**w...

The Chicago Public Schools teachers' strike might be keeping students out of school, but some of the striking educators are boarding school buses every day anyway. While teachers have been picketing and marching since Monday, Reggies Chicago has been providing one group of them rides in the club's bus, which is--ironically--a vintage school bus painted black. The NTA teachers are grateful for the rides to Chicago Teachers Union rallies in different parts of the city. "Parking is really difficult.

Yesterday the folks behind the popular Japanese character Domo made a really cool announcement. I really like it when the geeky things we enjoy are used to help those in need. Check out the following press release for the 411 on what they're doing, then catch up with me at the bottom of the post for yet another fun contest!: DOMO HELPS MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH PHILANTHROPIC FASHION CAMPAIGN Big Tent Entertainment Gives Back Through Licensing Deal with Good Work(s)

The Chicago Public Schools teachers' strike might be keeping students out of school, but some of the striking educators are boarding school buses every day anyway. While teachers have been picketing and marching since Monday, Reggies Chicago has been providing one group of them rides in the club's bus, which is--ironically--a vintage school bus painted black. The NTA teachers are grateful for the rides to Chicago Teachers Union rallies in different parts of the city. "Parking is really difficult.

The intersection of Clark and Ontario downtown already has a lot going on, with Portillo's, Rainforest Cafe and the Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's adorning its corner. As of Wednesday, it has a head-turning new billboard as well. McDonald's and pictures of its hot, steamy fries previously occupied the billboard on the northwest corner. Now the board, the first of its kind, features an ad for the dating site ArrangementFinders.com with a picture of former Charlie Sheen "Goddess" Bree Olsen and the tagline "Because the best job is a b**w...

My Twitter feed exploded with all sorts of nerdiness last night. Tweet after tweet cascaded down my screen, each containing names, numbers and postulations; and every once in a while I'd see a little argument sprout up between Twitter avatars, with one challenging the hypothesis of the other. And what was the cause of all this chatter? Was it the discovery of a new planet in our solar system? Or that dark matter was in fact, the cream filling of a Hostess Twinkie ? (Mmmmmmmmmm…Twinkies.)

**1/2 (out of four) French workplaces must really be hotbeds of free-flowing romantic opportunity. After Nathalie (Audrey “Amelie” Tautou) says it was inappropriate for her to kiss her colleague Markus (Francois Damiens), he says she sounds like an American. Meanwhile, Nathalie's married boss (Bruno Todeschini) continues to express his interest and lament Nathalie seeing anyone else. Get to work, you lonely lovebirds! Anyway, “Delicacy” actually does not revolve around a love triangle but a woman trying to put herself...